Diaz has made Klopp look pessimistic!
IT was lunchtime on February 4 and Jurgen Klopp, fresh from an unexpected purchase in the January sales, was doing his best to keep expectations in check.
‘Let me say it like this,’ Liverpool’s manager began. ‘If Luis Diaz would come here and immediately be at his absolute best and playing better than all the others that would be really strange. we (as a group) have worked together for a while. It needs time.’
Klopp’s predictions are not usually wrong but this one, about his recruit from Porto, has proven way off target. From the first time he touched the ball, as a sub against Cardiff in the Fa Cup, Diaz has looked like he has been at Liverpool for years.
To say Diaz has hit the ground running would be an understatement. He has come out of the blocks quicker than a sprinter in the Olympic 100 metres final, his latest stellar contribution coming at Villarreal.
speed is key to this story, from the way Liverpool moved to secure his signature in the final week of the window to how he has adjusted to life on Merseyside.
Tottenham wanted to land Diaz, as did Manchester United, while David Moyes had ambitions to take him to west Ham, but Liverpool — with an £8million down payment to Porto out of a fee of £37.5m — swooped for a man they initially intended to recruit this summer. The business was impressive but adjusting to life in a team is something else altogether.
The Colombia international, however, has been unique. Klopp decided not to overload him with technical instructions in terms of how Liverpool move when they do not have the ball, but it has all come naturally.
His new team-mates have had their breath taken away by the way he has performed in training with his enthusiasm, exuberance and character making him a hit.
as the pressure has cranked up, Diaz — whose dribbling brings a new dimension to Liverpool’s attack — has put his fingerprints all over big victories, the most important of which was Tuesday’s success in spain. The Fa Cup semi-final with Manchester City, the Merseyside derby, an anfield showdown with Manchester United and now a Champions League semi-final second leg, Diaz has been outstanding.
‘He has been special,’ andy Robertson beamed. ‘we’ve tried to help him as much as we can, all the players. we know how difficult it is, coming in in January.
‘The coaches and everyone else have got him up to speed but he is a special, special player.
‘The talent he has and the will to win — he just fits us perfectly.
‘with a full pre-season under his belt I believe he will get better, which is scary. what he has produced in the here and now is pretty special as well.’